Chapter 99


    Part 16


    “If this goes ahead, he’llpose a simted scenario of warfare with the demons, to take ce all


    over the world and out in the void as well. Eachpetitor or team ofpetitors will fight exactly the


    same scenario, with exactly the same conditions, inmand of The Just Alliance. Whoever has the


    best result at the end of the scenario gets to rule the alliance, at least until the demons are dealt with.


    There should be another tournament with a peacetime scenario to see who’ll rule after that.


    “There are a lot of people who realize that you very well could have ended up ruling Keran if you’d


    yed things differently. Regardless of your past crimes, there’s nothing in your sentence that says you


    can’t still rule The Just Alliance if everyone agrees with it. If you really are the best, and you really can


    lead us against the demons better than anyone else, then I want you inmand. If you’re not the


    best, but you don’tpete in the tournament, the winner willckplete credibility. There’d always


    be someone saying that you’d have won it if you’dpeted.


    “And there’s another thing. If we’re still alive after the war with the demons here, we n to go with the


    Triax to hunt the demons throughout the great void, hopefully to eventually destroy their homeworld


    and exterminate thempletely. I’d like to have you with us in that venture, and if you ce higher in


    the tournament than anyone else who’sing with us, then I want you inmand.”


    “Well.” Zarkog said as he sat up on his haunches like a dog. “Now you have surprised me. Twice.


    “On the matter of hunting demons in the void after they are eliminated from our sun system, you’ll have


    to ask me then. My decision will depend on what urs between now and then.


    “As to the tournament to rule Keran; if you can truly cause such a thing to ur as you have


    described it, be assured that I will indeed participate. And I would be in your debt.”


    He paused for a long moment as he considered the four young beings before him. “It is difficult to


    believe that any of you are as young as you seem. And you truly believe that you would win the


    tournament, and prove yourselves most capable of ruling Keran?”


    “We do.” Six nodded.


    Just then Amirgath and Quewanak appeared hovering above them, thennded on the mountaintop,


    and both dragon gods were grinning.


    “You’ll get your chance, impetuous youth!” Amirgathughed, shaking the mountain with his thunderous


    mirth. “Of course we’ve been listening since we were mentioned, and we both think your tournament is


    a fine idea! We’ll both co-operate on conducting and judging the tournament, and we’ll likely recruit a


    few more gods from every faction to assist with it, so that the scenario can be justifiablyplex while


    allowing the tournament to bepleted in a reasonable amount of time.


    “We can’t say if The Assembly of The Just Alliance or the populous of Keran will agree to naming the


    winner the ruler of all, but we will most certainly hold the tournament!


    “The tournament will be held in six weeks, which will be two days after the time-bubbles end. Those in


    the time-bubbles will not be informed of it until forty days before they re-emerge, so they’ll have the


    same six weeks in which to prepare, should any of them wish topete.


    “Be aware that while in the scenario, only the dered members of thepeting team will be able to


    contribute creativity. Every other person on Keran will be represented in the scenario, but they’ll


    strive only to obey your orders as exactly and as literally as possible.”


    “As it should be.” Zarkog nodded.


    Falgaroth and Visinniria appeared.


    “It’ll be an interesting project.” Visinniria stated to Six with a smile. “I wonder, what limitations would you


    ce on the number of members of apeting team, and what assistance would you allow each


    team to receive from others?”


    “What Amirgath said about only having team members make decisions during the scenario parallels


    our thinking on the subject.” Six told her. “But we envisioned allowing the teams to get any assistance


    they can get to train and prepare for the tournament, including the assistance and training of the gods,


    if they can get it. We nned on asking Quewanak’s help toplete our training. We estimate that we


    need about six years of training in his dream-time to maximize our present potential for the task, and he


    can do that for us in an hour or so of real time. But if others want to do more, we wee them to do


    so. If they wish to spend a million years inside a reverse-stasis field to train for it, that’s fine. We’d take


    more than the six years if we though it would do any good, but I doubt it would. It’s just diminishing


    returns after that. We mostly just want it so we can familiarize ourselves with the characteristics of the


    “It’d be different if we knew exactly what the war with the demons will really be like,” Fire stated, “Then


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    it’d be worth it to practice for it a million times. But since we don’t know, over-training would just reduce


    our effectiveness after a while. So there’s no need to wait to tell those in the time-bubbles about the


    tournament. Let them train for it the whole time if they want.”


    “Very well.” Amirgath chuckled, then told Zarkog; “If you want my help with your training, I will give it.”


    “And I will ept it, my Lord.” Zarkog acknowledged with a nod.


    “Theposition of teams may be problematic.” Falgaroth stated with a toss of his long blue mane and


    a shake of his horn. “For instance; I am certain that Emperor Osbald of Thon will wish to enter a team


    under his overallmand, and that he will want Empress Emeroth of Verzaclon and Overlord


    Senchak of Kletiuk on his team as consulting members. But it is also certain that both of those


    monarchs will wish to form teams under their ownmand, and will want to include the other two on


    their teams as consulting members.”


    “Then let them.” Six said with a shrug. “Let each individual who wants to lead a team do so, and if


    someone is chosen to be a subordinate member of more than one team, then the only thing that should


    constrain them from serving on every team they’re invited to is the tournament organizers’ ability to


    manage the scheduling and the logistics. The same’s true of the number of teams you’ll allow to


    with entrants who have no real hope of winning. But I think that every team that has any real chance at


    winning should be allowed topete, if it’s practical to hold the tournament with that many entrants.


    Same with the permitted number of team members; if you can handle theplexity of it, let each


    team leader have as many team members as they wish.


    “The only important thing is that we have the most provably capablemand team in ce when we


    fight the demons. All else is details. And beyond that, I truly respect the determination of the gods to


    not control or rule the mortals of Keran, but it’s a luxury that we may not always be able to afford. If it


    bes obvious to you in the midst of war that we need you to takemand in order to avoid


    disaster, then I expect you to fulfill your responsibilities and takemand. As I said, we need to have


    our best where they can do the most good, mortal or divine. I think the Triax’ culture is very effective


    that way.”


    “Hmph.” Amirgath snorted. “That may be the first time that a mortal has asked a god to exert authority


    while having no real religious sentiment, no hero worship, and no emotional exaltation of our power at


    all. Simply recognizing that we are more capable, and asking out of practicality. It’s very refreshing.”